ADU Construction in Sun Valley, Roof to Drain Line
Sun Valley ADUs and garage conversions with roofs pitched to send hard rain into buried drain lines, planned for City of Los Angeles review and built to it.
We sketch the roof of a Sun Valley ADU early, since its pitch decides which edge collects the runoff and where that water can be sent. A shed roof with a gutter along the back edge works well when a drain line has a clear path to a planting bed. Strong inland sun dries out roofing, and a sudden downpour finds any lap left open. Our drawings go to the City of Los Angeles, and once its reviewers sign off, the build follows them.
Pitch, covering and the gutter line
Picking a pitch comes before picking a shingle. A shed roof tilted toward the rear yard puts its water at a single eave, which keeps the gutter run short and leaves the side facing the house dry. A gable splits the load between two edges and suits a unit with room on both sides. For the covering we look at light-colored shingles rated for high wind or a standing-seam metal panel, both of which reflect much of the afternoon heat. Every edge gets a metal drip edge over a self-adhered underlayment, and wherever a vent pipe rises through the roof we fit a boot lapped under the course above it.
From downspout to daylight
Water that leaves the gutter should never reach the soil under the new slab. Each downspout drops into smooth-walled pipe buried below the yard and carried to a spot the plans mark, such as a planting bed or a dry well set apart from both buildings. Soil around the unit is shaped to fall away from its walls. On a flat lot that fall is small, so we check it with a level before the final inspection. You see the whole route on the site sheet before we price anything, and the written quote keeps the drawings apart from city fees and the work itself.
ADU Construction in Sun Valley: questions
Measure from the back fence forward. Once the rear and side setbacks and the gap the code asks for between buildings are marked, the ground left over shows what fits on a Sun Valley parcel. A deep yard can take a detached cottage with its gutter facing open ground. A shallower one may point toward a garage conversion or a unit attached to the house.
City of Los Angeles plan check will spend time on the site plan for a Sun Valley unit. On that sheet each downspout line is drawn to its end point, next to the distances from every property line. The exterior wall drawings mark the gutter and overhang on each face. The set we prepare covers a single-floor unit no larger than 500 square feet.
A garage with a sound slab and decent headroom can convert. In Sun Valley we also look up at the old roof, which may simply shed water onto the driveway or a side yard. We probe the concrete for hairline cracks and damp spots, look over the framing, then add gutters that carry water clear of the new living space. The car door opening is framed in with a window.
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